Joel Pett is a nationally syndicated cartoonists who has won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. But Pett takes great pride in his local work for the Lexington Herald-Leader, and sees it as his mission to take the corrupt, cynical politicians of Kentucky to task. "Kentucky politicians rarely address the real problems of the commonwealth. Instead, they pursue their own interests and throw out the red meat come election time."

Pett has had a long-running pubic feud with the current governor, and frequently calls out his hypocrisy: "I’ve cartooned seven governors in my time in Kentucky, and Matt Bevin is head, shoulders and halo below the rest, so to speak… Bevin decimated funding for higher education in Kentucky and derided judges with whom he disagreed as 'hacks.' Not surprisingly, for a guy who once called this cartoonist a 'racist' in public, Bevin attacked the news media whenever possible. Straight outta incompetent."

[Throughout his life, Rex Babin championed those who focused on state and local issues in editorial cartoons, a field that he and other cartoonists felt was regularly overlooked by journalism contests. The "Rex Babin Memorial Award for Excellence in Local Cartooning" was launched in 2017 to celebrate those working in this niche. To that end, we will be showcasing each cartoonist who entered the contest this year, one or two each day in alphabetical order (more or less), leading up to the AAEC Convention in Sacramento, CA, and the announcement of the award winner on Saturday, Sept. 22.]